The influence of hydrogen on the growth of gallium catalyzed silicon oxide nanowires

In this paper, we report that amorphous silicon oxide nanowires can be grown in a large quantity by chemical vapor deposition with molten gallium as the catalyst in a flow of mixture of SiH4, H2 and N2 at 600 °C. Meanwhile, when we grow these nanowires under the same conditions but without H2, octopus-like silicon oxide nanostructures are obtained. The reasons and mechanisms for the growth of these nanowires and nanostructures are discussed. Blue light emission is observed from SiOx nanowires, which can be attributed to defect centers of high oxygen deficiency. These SiOx nanowires may find applications in nanodevices and reinforcing composites.